A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words
by Majik
Summary: Ten years in the future, Scully's cousin arranges a night out while sorting through her own partner 'problems'


Authors Note: I know this fic isn't that great, but its one of my earlier ones. I'll hopefully be posting some better ones later. If you wanna know what happens with the dynamic duos, e-mail my sister: Lights_In_Sky@yahoo.com----she wrote the sequel.  
  
Dedication: To Rinney- yes you. I remember how you squealed at the hallway scene. And to think you used to claim you hated it! Sure. Fine. Whatever.  
  
  
Dana Scully's Apartment  
7:25PM  
  
Dana Scully sat on her couch flipping through an old photo album looking for a picture. When she found it, she touched her finger to it gently, tears brimming in the corners of her icy blue eyes. But she hastily wiped them away when the door creaked open and I poked my head in.  
  
"Dana?"   
  
I am Dana Scully's cousin, 33-year-old Katherine Scully.  
  
"Hey Kit. Come on in."  
"Watcha looking at?" I asked. "I've seen you looking at it before.  
Dana shifted the couch, allowing me to perch on the arm. "Oh, just a   
picture."   
I just nodded, knowing that, like me, Dana could be very closed mouth about some things.  
  
"Actually Dana, I um, wanted to know if you could give me some advice." Dana looked up at me, and I knew she was thinking about how similar we are, even after being separated for almost 10 years when I was off in Europe. I worked at the same FBI building Dana once did, and kept to myself. My partner of four years was Josh Swanson, we worked in the VC section. I was never one to be quick to judge, always thinking everything through, but I had a quick mind that enabled me to make quick decisions in a difficult situation even one involving those I cared about.  
  
"What kind of advice do you need?" Dana asked me.  
"Well," I started hesitantly, "It's about my partner, Swanson. I've um, been kind of confused lately and.."  
  
Dana nodded knowingly. "You love him don't you?"  
  
Surprised, I said, "Well yeah. I mean, I think so. How'd you know?"  
"You've been partners for almost four years now. More than partners,   
friends. You've been put into very dangerous situations together and have been forced to have to be able to read each other like a book. I've seen you two together, the way he places a hand on the small of your back when you walk, the way you silently communicate with only your eyes."  
  
I dropped my head, knowing all this and more and true.   
I thought. But from the look in Dana eyes, I knew that it wasn't, that Dana also had had some experience like mine.  
  
"See this picture?" she asked.  
I peered at the photo album and saw a picture of two laughing agents. I   
immediately recognized my cousin because of the same sparkling blue eyes and short red hair. She was standing next to a man who had deep hazel eyes and brown hair, which fell over his eyes, causing him to look very hot. His arm was draped around Dana's shoulder. She was laughing, perhaps at the man. She stood on tiptoes as if trying to match his height, and I could almost see the bond they shared.   
  
"Is that you?" I asked.  
"Yes," she replied. "That was taken ten years ago when I still worked at the FBI. The man in the picture was my partner, Mulder."  
  
I knew that Dana wasn't comfortable with talking about her time spent at the FBI and that she was happy now with her life as a doctor. So instead of pushing the subject, I questioned her partner's name.  
  
"Mulder? What kind of name is that?" Dana smiled at my question.  
"His name was Fox Mulder, but since he hated his name, most called him   
Mulder. Or Spooky," she added as an after thought.  
  
"Did you love him?" I asked blatantly.  
"Yes," she whispered. "I really think I did."  
  
"So what happened?" I asked. Dana shot me a look and I got the feeling this is what my sister meant by the FBI being a very touchy subject. But Dana went on to answer my question anyway, despite the pain in her eyes.  
  
"When I was only a few years older than you," she began, "I was assigned by my superiors to the X-Files with Agent Mulder, to debunk his work. The X-Files were a collection of unsolved FBI cases, mostly relating to the paranormal."   
  
I only nodded. The X-Files were sort of a legend at the FBI, but I didn't know that Dana had worked on them, I had only heard of Agents Spender and Fowley both of whom had been 'killed by the truth' as my boss Skinner had once put it. But I allowed Dana to continue.  
  
"We were partners for going on six years and we had become best friends over the years. We saw each other through everything, my abduction and cancer, the disappearance of his sister, we kept no secrets form each other. We were so different yet we were so close. Yin and Yang, night and day. There is no comparison. I loved him, maybe not in a conventional sense, but it was love still the same. I couldn't say it though, couldn't risk everything. He could though, he was better with emotions than me. He said it once, and once only. I didn't take him seriously, I couldn't, he was flying high on morphine at the time, but inside I was jumping for joy. Anyway, after six years, we discovered the alien invasion, which I know you know about. While looking for evidence we were disbanded from the FBI."  
  
When Dana paused, I jumped in. "Wait, hold up," I said "You discovered the invasion? But-"  
"We stopped it too," she said. "But it wasn't for the best. At least not for me. We were allowed back into the FBI, not the X-Files, but the FBI nonetheless. Mulder jumped at the chance, he was born to work at the FBI. I, on the other hand, didn't return. I was too...confused. I had always thought there was a scientific explanation for everything, but now...aliens. I just couldn't deal. So I left. I became a doctor like Ahab always wanted. It maybe wasn't the most logical solution, but I couldn't deal."  
  
I understood how Dana felt, at least I thought I did. I placed my hand on her shoulder.  
"Dana, did you ever talk to Mulder again?"  
"No...we tried to keep in touch for a while, but his work was too demanding and gradually the distance between us stretched so far there was no repair. Last I heard he was out in California, searching out his sister who was abducted for the testing when he was 12."  
  
Dana looked at the picture and watched as a tear dropped onto the laughing faces.  
"I still remember when this was taken," she said softly, lost in her   
memories. "It was with the Lone Gunmen...they could figure out any computer program, expert hackers," she explained. "We were so, happy. We had just completed a case and were celebrating when Langly made us pose for the camera. We took a group shot first, but Mulder insisted he have a picture of just us. When I went to stand next to him he made a wise crack about my height and I was goofing off, giddy at solving the case when Langly took the picture." Dana shook her head sadly. "At the time I thought Mulder was crazy for giving me this picture. But now I'm glad he did...it's my way of remembering everything."  
  
Dana looked at me seriously, as if judging my feelings with my eyes. "If you really love him," she said. "Let him know. Otherwise, you'll spend the rest of your years wondering 'what if'. And trust me, that's not what you want."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building  
1:52 PM  
  
Hesitantly I knocked on the door of the basement office.  
"Nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted," drifted out to me. I poked my head in the door and asked, "Is that your trademark, or is it just reserved for the Scully family?"   
  
The man at the desk took off his glasses and looked at me. He looked no different than the man in the photo except for a little gray at the roots of his hair.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked. I stepped inside the office, looking around at the various newspaper clippings, posters and photos that littered the wall, the photo of him and Dana among them I noticed. I extended my hand to the now standing Agent Mulder.  
  
"Special Agent Katherine Scully," I introduced myself. Mulder ignored my hand and his eyebrows raised slightly at the name. "Scully..." he whispered to himself.  
  
"Yes," I said. "My cousin is Dana Scully, your former partner. Mulder awoke   
from his stupor. "Well Ms. Scully," he asked briskly. "What can I do for you?"  
"Katherine, please. Actually, I'm here to talk to you about Dana."  
"Is she all right?" he asked immediately.  
  
"Oh yes, she's fine," I hurried to assure him. "I was wondering if you were interested in uh, seeing her this weekend." I could visibly see the struggle on Mulder's face and wisely I kept my mouth shut.  
  
"Why now?" he asked at last. "Why, after so many years, are you approaching me now?"  
  
So I told him all of last night's events, about how Dana had kept the photo, how clearly she remembered everything, and how much she missed him. "You could see the love in her eyes," I finished. "Just as I see it here, now, reflecting in your eyes too."  
  
Mulder walked across the room with his head bent. "She said she never told me how much she...loved me. but, I don't believe that. She told me every day, just by looking into my eyes. She told me by the way she wasn't afraid to contradict me or the way she always knew what to say. Because, you see, these things meant more to me than anything else in the world, more than any words could say." Mulder looked up at me, hope flourishing in his eyes. "I want to see her. I need to. But, I want it to be a surprise. Have her meet me at this address." Mulder scribbled an address onto a post-it and placed it firmly in my hand. "Thank you," he said.   
  
I walked silently out of the room looking at the address. I didn't recognize the street name, but the personal message at the bottom fairly leaped out at me.   
  
I have the strength of your beliefs.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Dana Scully's apartment  
4:34 PM  
  
"Dana?"  
"In here," called Dana from the living room. I walked in there, trying to refrain from smiling. I could hardly wait to see my cousin's face when she realized whom she was meeting.  
"Hey Dana, I got a message for you."   
  
"Oh really?" she asked. "who from?"  
"Let's just say a little birdie gave it to me." I gave the paper to her and immediately realization dawned in her eyes. "Mulder..." The word was no more than breath of air, but I heard the name there anyway.  
  
"How did you know? He wanted it to be a surprise."  
"No he didn't," she said. "If he did, he wouldn't have written that message. He was testing me in typical Mulderesque knowing that if I didn't know what that it meant, I never really loved him."  
"What does it mean?" I asked. Dana looked up at me with wide eyes, dreams revealed. "That was what I said to him after I awoke from my coma. It's always stuck with me, it was so fitting for our cause. It was also right after he gave me my cross back," she added, fingering her gold necklace.  
  
"So you'll meet him?" Dana looked at me like I was crazy.  
"Hell yeah!"   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Fox Mulder's Apartment  
6:28 the next night  
  
Scully hesitantly walked up the steps to the apartment building, nervousness flitting in her stomach. She smoothed her skirt under her coat and rang the bell to apartment number 42. The door unlocked and after taking a deep breath Scully walked in noticing every little tidbit along the way. Upon reaching apartment number 42, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked up. With a resolute hand, she   
knocked briskly on the door.  
  
"Come on in," Mulder called out. Scully opened the door to find everything as she remembered, even the same figure perched on the couch. She gave Mulder a warm smile which he returned as he stood up to meet Scully in the center of the room. They stood there for a few awkward moments until Mulder pulled her into a hug.   
  
"Hey," she whispered, unexpected tears spring to her eyes. "I   
wasn't expecting such a warm welcome."  
  
"Bullshit," Mulder said. "I missed you so much. Scully stepped away,   
looking into his eyes, seeing the truth there.  
"Yeah," she agreed. "Me too."  
  
"So!" Mulder said, breaking the silence. Would you like a drink or anything?"  
"Actually," she responded. "I made reservations at Chez Jaque's. I hope you don't mind."  
"No, no problem. Let me grab my coat, and we can go."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Chez Jaque's   
7:19 PM  
  
Mulder and Scully sat facing one another wearing similar goofy smiles.   
"So how have you been?" Scully asked at last.  
"Good. Great actually. I'm working in VCU and it's going pretty good. I've kept the X-Files as kind of a side hobby, but there isn't much excitement in the world of the paranormal ever since the aliens were stopped."   
  
Scully nodded and Mulder could tell that she was slightly put off by his openness.   
"What about you?" he asked with genuine interest.  
But before she could answer, their food arrived and Mulder dug in like there was no tomorrow. "Really Mulder," she admonished him. "Did you eat anything today.?"  
  
"Actually, yeah," he replied after swallowing. "For breakfast I had   
chocolate covered cherries and ice cream, and for lunch I had some cold smoke salmon and a breakfast shake Sam's so hot on.   
  
Scully stared openly. "Samantha? But how? When?"  
Mulder laughed at her obvious surprise. "Calm down. I found her in out in California, which is where she had been returned to after the testing like most had. She was actually heading a MUFON group dealing with the memories of the testing. But she's visiting DC now, I was going to have it be a surprise for later on, but you know the old saying, open mouth, insert foot."  
  
"You mean she remembered the testing?"  
"Yeah," Mulder said. "It was pretty horrible from what she'll tell me."  
  
"Was that who you were with at Smoking Man's funeral?" Scully asked,   
remembering seeing Mulder with a young woman two years earlier.  
"You were there? I didn't see you, but yes that was Samantha. She was   
pretty heartbroken over the whole thing. Supposedly CGB or whatever his name was raised her like a daughter. But I guess it shows that smoking does kill people even rat bastards involved in a government conspiracy."  
  
"Mulder, you're sounding like a health teacher...kinda."  
"I am? Sorry, I just tend to get a little....overexcitable."  
"To say the least," Scully mumbled under her breath.  
"The very least. So anyway, how have you been?"  
  
"Okay I guess. The woman you met is my cousin Katherine who was over in Europe for the last ten years, but now she works at the FBI. My job is, well sad. I became a pediatric oncologist in hopes of helping kids, you know, a way of helping what I could never have, but sometimes it gets so depressing.  
  
Mulder reached across the table to cover her hand with his and for a second it almost felt like old times to both of them.  
  
"I know," he said comfortingly. "But you're doing what's needed to be done." Scully allowed her head to drop for a brief second, but looked back up, eyes sparkling. "So," she started. "You up to seeing a movie?"   
"Sure," Mulder said. "What's playing?"  
  
"Oh, just one of my patients favorite movies."  
"Which is..."  
"Lady and the Tramp."  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Showcase Cinemas  
9:16 p.m.  
  
Mulder held the door to the theater open for Scully and led her in, allowing his hand to rest on the small of her back, almost instinctively. Both marveled about how much had changed, and yet how much everything was still so much the same.  
  
"Popcorn?" he asked sociably.  
"How about spaghetti?" Scully teased, recalling her favorite scene from the movie. When they had settled into their seats, both Mulder and Scully heaved the tiniest of content sighs. Both were completely comfortable just to sit next to each other in front of the big screen and watch a movie neither had seen in at least three years.  
  
Sometime after the Siamese song Mulder loved so much, Scully became aware of her fingers entwined with Mulder's larger ones. It was such a simple and common act, but it made both all the happier just to be together. And during the infamous spaghetti scene, Mulder found it complete natural to lean in and kiss Scully, something he had waited 15 years to do.  
  
They both pulled away   
with sheepish grins and Mulder again wrapped his hand around Scully's. She gave it a brief squeeze, as if to let him know that her heart was his.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
Scully's car  
11:31  
  
Scully pulled her car in front of Mulder's apartment building, unsure of what to say nest. They both spoke at the same time.  
  
"Mulder I-"  
"Look Scully-"  
  
Both laughed nervously. "Go ahead," Scully said after an awkward silence.  
"Scully, I just wanted to let you know I had a great time tonight. It was kinda awkward at first, but it made me realized how much I missed having you in my life. But I still think of you as a part of my life, a big part."  
  
"It's okay Mulder," Scully said. "I was gonna say the same thing."  
For a brief instant they just looked at each other, glad to have rediscovered their friendship. But before Mulder stepped out of the car, he paused long enough to tuck Scully's hair behind her ear, smiling at her with his eyes.  
  
" 'Night Scully."  
"Good-night Mulder. Love you." The last two words were spoken softly, more to herself than to Mulder but he heard them anyway.  
  
"Same here," he said with a grin.  
And then he was gone.  
  
  
  
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